Cost shouldn't keep any student from attending YOUTH 2027. Here's where to look for help, starting now. Most of these avenues need lead time, so the earlier you start, the more room you have.

Connectional Funds Worth Asking About

Every bishop and episcopal area has been asked to consider budgeting or fundraising support for CCYM leadership, conference staff, and youth from their area to attend YOUTH 2027. Check in with conference staff to see if there are any funds set aside or available to support registration and travel to the event. Contact information can often be found through your annual conference’s website or social media pages.

Some conferences are willing to help arrange group travel — bus, convoy, or organized flights — since transportation logistics, not registration costs alone, are often what keeps smaller churches from attending. If your conference hasn't had that conversation yet, you or your pastor raising it with conference leadership is legitimate and welcome.

Built-in Cost Reducers

A few things are already designed to lower the price for everyone:

• Groups determine their own lodging assignments and arrangements. If your church’s Safer Sanctuaries policy allows, groups can have up to four people per room. Dividing the $175 per-night hotel cost by four people lowers the per-person cost.
• Register by April 15, 2027, for the absolute best price; this is the easiest savings to plan for, since it just requires registering on time.
• Control over meals. Lunches are included on July 12 and 13; groups get to plan and set their food plan and costs, saving money over food purchased from the hotel or on-site restaurants.

What to Do This Fall

Start two conversations before the end of 2026: one with your own congregation (fundraiser plans and times on the calendar, a designated offering in worship, a youth ministry budget line for 2027, etc.) and one with your district, conference office, or jurisdictional leadership (what scholarship or grant funding might be available and by when, any willingness to support attendance by organizing or underwriting group travel). Both conversations go better with lead time, and lead time is the one resource that costs nothing.

Safety, Support, and Accessibility at YOUTH 2027: What Leaders Should Know

Bringing a group of teenagers to a connection event is an act of trust, one we take seriously. Here's how YOUTH 2027 is built to honor that trust, and what you'll need in place as a leader.

Adult-to-Youth Ratios

YOUTH 2027 requires at least one adult chaperone for every seven youth attendees, and we recommend at least two chaperones per group, no matter the size. Start recruiting and vetting additional chaperones now, not in the spring of 2027. Background checks and training processes take time, and you don't want them to become bottlenecks. Parents, retired church members, and other folks outside your usual pool of attendees may be more willing to chaperone this special event when they have enough time to plan their schedules.

Safer Sanctuaries Protections Are Built into the Event

All event leaders will go through Safe Gatherings background checks and training as part of event preparation. Local churches are responsible for preparing and training their chaperones in ways that meet their local church risk-reduction and abuse-prevention policies. Local churches determine hotel room assignments, ensuring group leaders know sleeping arrangements and set up their groups for safety and success.

A Quiet but Important Detail: Release Forms Are Included with Registration

Group leaders are responsible for registering multiple attendees under the leader’s email address. That group leader is responsible for uploading informational and release forms for each attendee. These forms help us provide appropriate food, accommodations, and care onsite. Work ahead to reduce stress before April 15. Give yourself time to distribute, collect, and upload forms as you plan your registration.

Communication about the event will run through the group leader email address provided during registration, so plan to be a reliable relay between YOUTH 2027 and your students' families.

The Venue Itself Reduces Risk

Because the hotel and event programs share one building, you won't be managing a group crossing streets or loading buses between sessions multiple times a day. Everything — worship, workshops, meals, the exhibit hall — is reachable without leaving the building, and it's air-conditioned, which matters a lot in Dallas in July. We control all exterior entrances and exits, have trained volunteers and security onsite, and manage all public bathroom spaces onsite, ensuring everyone has a place to go when they need to go.

What to Do Now

Start (or continue) chaperone recruitment and background-check processes this fall, confirm your adult-to-youth ratio for your expected group size, and plan to be the single point of contact for your students' families to reach throughout the event. Download the required forms for registration and distribute those digitally. Provide due dates for members of your group so that you can collect all forms and upload them when you finalize registration.